The Mick Morris Musing

Exploring Resilience via Lifes Burning Issues

Category: choices (Page 6 of 25)

The slow boat to China – or cruising through 20 years of Marriage

October 1, 2013 /
Mick and Jo

Who are these young people… Me and my beautiful wife back in 1993

Twenty Years

The second of October 1993 to the second of October 2013…A time to celebrate twenty years of being married. Twenty years that feels like it has been a long time, but twenty years that also feels like it has gone by in the blink of an eye.

Twenty years that have been filled with highs, lows and everything in-between. Twenty years that have given us three beautiful children, that have filled us with joy.. and the inevitable sadness of Samuel’s situation.

Twenty years with Jo-ann who is probably expecting me to make a crack about the possibility of being paroled for murder (twice over) by now…[or as a friend put it more politely the other day.. day years married to you Michael, I’m sure she thinks about murder and being paroled every day] …. but no… I’m more romantic than that 🙂 (shhhh stop laughing Jo-ann)

Taking the slow boat to china…

I’m sure you have all heard the term “on a slow boat to China”.. in general use it means something that takes a long time is very slow and may never reach it’s destination. The term also has a few cultural references to romance too with a 1948 hit song by Frank Loesser that has been revised from time to time by the likes of Peggy Lee and Bing Crosby, Bette Midler, Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin and many others.

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In the romantic sense the term is about wanting to spend as much time as possible with the one that one love…..  and the reality is that I’d be happy to do twenty years with Jo-ann all over again.. and I look forward to spending the next twenty on another ride on the “slow boat to china”… because who really knows that the destination of life is, or when we’ll get there?

But….I’m also playing on words a little…..

The symbolism of twenty years

A twentieth wedding anniversary is represented by China….no not the country! Gifts of fine china are the traditional gift associated with a twentieth wedding anniversary.

It is meant to symbolizes the beautiful, elegant, and delicate nature of your love for one another over 20 years (However, there was no way I was going out to get Jo-ann a nice china dinner set…)

Jo-ann is one who likes symbolism and some of the associated tradition and the romance that it represents … so my gift to Jo-ann for our twentieth wedding anniversary  is this…

Doulton Forever

A Royal Doulton, Fine China Figurine called FOREVER.

I think it is a nice blend of the tradition of China as a twentieth anniversary gift, a reminder of our wedding day (and how damn young we looked!), and that we are on the slow boat to China forever…..

My anniversary message to Jo-ann.

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I Love You… through thick and thin, through the highs and lows. I’m glad you’ve shared the last twenty years with me, I look forward to sharing another twenty with you….[and just so you don’t think I’m getting too mushy… just remember… you’re stuck with me 🙂 ]

 

Never like a shag on a rock

September 3, 2013 /

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Where did the time go?

Sometimes it is surprising how fast another month can slip by…. Like it has since the last post.

An update on Samuel

Samuel has continued doing his own thing, having good days and bad days. Some days heavily medicated and some days less medicated.

Surprisingly he has made it through all of winter without a crashing episode of pneumonia, despite no longer having any of the respiratory support of previous years. The staff at Bear Cottage are just like us, shrugging their shoulders and all they can say is…. It’s Samuel.

His tenth birthday was a milestone none of us expected to make, but it was a great (if insanely busy )week last week celebrating Tanja’s 18th, Taylor’s 13th and Samuel’s 10th.

Another short stint at Bear Cottage

Samuel has been at Bear Cottage since Thursday last week to help us wrap up the week with other events. Taylor and I joined Samuel on Sunday afternoon to spend a few days and unwind, while Jo-Ann and Tanja stayed at home to take care of a few other things.

As usual Bear Cottage is great and provides a good break, and an opportunity to snap pictures like the one at the head of this post.

I love the environment around Manly and take the opportunity to walk/run in places around the beaches and headlands that are such a different view to home. With views like this ….

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A shag on a rock.. Or the beach

Today provided a different sort of exercise though …..

Rather than a run or walk to talk in the scenery I spent 45 minutes doing soft sand and shallow water runs to try and catch a Pied Cormorant (a shag) which had a bundle of fishing line, a hook and a big fishing float wrapped around it’s wing.

Calls to wires and to Manly councils animal services said they knew about the bird but couldn’t do anything!

After 45 minutes, a couple of attempts (failed) and a bite from the Cormorant during one of the attempts, local Manly resident Chris showed up just as the cormorant was about to escape from under the towel during another attempt… And with speed and grace had the towel back over the bird, the bird wrapped up and subdued. We took the bird back to Chris’ place (Chris copped a quick bite in the process) and cut away all of the offending material.

Chris’ partner (sorry I missed her name) called WIRES and let them know that bird had been captured and the line, hook and float removed. At the request of WIRES they then took the bird to a nearby vet, where it is spending the night.

It was a different but fulfilling way to get in today’s exercise.

20130903-181945.jpg Chris, Taylor and I with the Cormorant.

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